NC FIlm Crew

After posting yesterday’s news, I’ve had so many confirmations from so many folks, we’re gonna go ahead and call it! Plus, Production Weekly’s got Wilmywood as a location as well. Good Behavior is coming to Wilmington! We will see the TNT series open offices next month! Get ready to see those lighting and grip trucks lining the streets again the first week of March!! JOBS JOBS JOBS!

A huge thank you to TNT, our North Carolina writer Blake Crouch and to Chad Hodge for bringing the show here. We Wilmywood peeps appreciate your choice which benefits our local economy including our fabulous small businesses and the employment of our fabulously talented crew! Bless you!

To Michelle, Juan and the rest of the cast and producing team, we welcome you with open arms, big hugs and warm smiles. We hope you enjoy your stay!

The North Carolina Film Industry might be bone dry at the moment, but that didn’t stop NC film crew members whether currently unemployed or working out-of-state from donating to their annual Great Holiday Layaway Payoff. This wonderful campaign started three years ago when crew members would pass around the hat at EUE/Screen Gems Studios and collect some cash so they could be “Secret Santas” for a few families. This year however, it went from few to twenty-two!!! This is their biggest year yet. Because there were no production offices open to pass around the proverbial hat, crew members created a Go Fund Me, so the film family could donate no matter where they were. In 8 days, they raised $2, 240 and paid off 22 layaways for families in the Wilmington area.

The crew member who spearheads this campaign wishes to remain anonymous, but said these words:

The folks who helped me at Toys R Us said they haven’t been much into the Christmas spirit, but seeing what we have done has both touched them and helped them feel festive. They also want to spread the idea and help spark more good deeds this holiday season, which is all we can ask for. Their favorite part of all of this, they said, is calling the families to let them know they can come pick up their Christmas layaways.

Children do not need to know pain, suffering or struggle. By doing this, I’d like to think we have kept them still children and innocent for at least another holiday season.

Very well said. The North Carolina Film Crew Members take family very seriously, and this behavior is typical of them. Good hearts. Good souls. Excellent community spirit!

UPDATE: One mom who had a Layaway at ToysRUs wanted me to express this to you NC Film Crew: “I don’t know if it was the film people or someone else but my layaway at ToysRUs was paid off today. I just want to be able to thank them from the bottom of my heart! Merry Christmas to all of you. I am shaking I am so grateful.”

Did you see something special in the News and Observer? There is a full page ad (above) provided by the Wilmington Regional Film Commission and Screen Gems. Thanks for this Robbie. “FILM” is spelled out with the names of all the businesses that are part of the Small Business for Film coalition, and the message says:

Small businesses understand the importance of the NC film industry. Film production supports hotels and restaurants, print shops and paint stores, antique dealers and clothing boutiques, equipment rental companies and lumberyards, florists, locksmiths and everything in-between. Legislators, your vote makes a difference. Support small business. Vote Film.

With that being said, while Dirty Dancing is not filming and is holding up $4 million of the grant, I am hearing that the show Vacationland who very much wanted to stay here has settled on Georgia. I am being told that our NCFilm crew’s getting calls to work on the show. The pilot was filmed here late last year.

In the article Under the Dome cast member Eddie Cahill said he thinks the town (Wilmington) is especially supportive of film. “It feels personal here,” he said. Yeah, Eddie gets it. Nail. Head. Nuff said.

Today is day two of Dome days. I will be heading back to EUE/Screen Gems Studios later this morning to interview some more of the cast. They are currently on Day 7 of Episode 8. And guess who I ran into? The fabulous Eriq LaSalle! Yep he’s back and is ready to direct episode 9 then guest star on a few episodes too! He will play the ruthless Hektor Martin, the CEO of the energy company run by Barbie’s father played by Brett Cullen. So plan on seein’ Eriq around town for the next couple of months!

The Wilmywood shot, The Squeeze, is out on DVD today! The golf caper stars Christopher McDonald, Jeremy Sumpter, Jillian Murray and Michael Nouri, along with some of our local actors including Michael Rosander, David Andrews, and Logan Siu to name a few.

The Squeeze is a true story about a young man from a small southern town who gets caught in between two notorious gamblers, until the stakes become a matter of life or death. GET IT NOW!

For months, I knew this day would come. The day we would say goodbye to a television show that employed hundreds of Wilmington, NC residents. Put money in the pockets of so many small businesses and brought so many fans of the show to this great city of ours. I’ve met many and took them around the town where they spent so many of their dollars here. I am sure many of you remember me sneaking them by and introducing them to you.

I tried my best, but even my best wasn’t good enough last year to educate the narrow minds of the North Carolina House and the Senate. My words fell on deaf ears. Some said we don’t need the incentives to keep the productions coming. Some said, it’s just not worth it, it costs the state. I urge them to ask the small businesses across the state how they are doing today. Ask them a week or two from now. A month from now.

They should ask you what your plans are. I’ve already said goodbye to so many of your peers and I know you have too. I’ve seen the moving trucks pulling out of their driveways, For Sale signs go up on their front lawns. I’ve seen families split apart, leaving for South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Georgia leaving their spouses and children behind to find work. Now, I am afraid it will be happening to you too. Some of you will stick around, but we will be saying good-bye to many of you.

Living in their own bubble, the NCGA doesn’t see this nor do they wish to. They only see and hear what they want. There is of course a few exceptions of course. Hamilton, Davis, Iller, Lee, and a few others, but there are not enough who wish to open their eyes to see what is unfolding before them.

I am grateful to Bill Vassar and the Cooneys along with a few other key people for saving Under the Dome. If you had any idea what they had to do to keep our CBS show here, it would blow your mind. I am sure though many of you know.

It is all out of our hands at this point. All we have is hope. Hope that our legislators who do truly believe in our film industry will really shake thing up in the Long Session in such away that it wakes up those who are clueless in the General Assembly.

Even though my heart is ridiculously heavy right now, I am holding on to that hope more than ever because you beautiful crew members are such a huge part of what made this state shine so bright. Your talent, your creativity, your teamwork and your undying energy has put this state on the map. You gave us incredible bragging rights, and you know how much I just LOVE to brag about you! Our small town charm, beautiful beaches and mountains were spread across the big and small screens because of your reputation of excellence. But we all know this is a business. And businesses will go where they get the most bang for their buck. And of course the slap in the face they call a $10 million grant just won’t cut it. The lights are now dim, but I don’t believe we will go into darkness. I have to believe that.

I love you Sleepy Hollow crew. You are truly one of the best teams in the world. Your synergy is impeccable and your love and passion for your job is undeniable. Wherever you go, I hope you know I am always thinking of you and already look forward to seeing you on a Wilmington set again soon.

We hear it all the time. North Carolina has a world class film crew. You hear it from producers and directors on every project that comes here. But what does that really mean? Sure, we know we have the best, but why? I caught up with producer, Marty Bowen. Besides already having a connection to our crew with Safe Haven, Marty has worked with film crews all over the country with projects such as the Twilight Saga, Dear Johnand the latest The Fault in our Stars. Now he is here for The Longest Ride. He explains why our NC Film crew is world class and what it actually means.

We represent over 10,000 registered voters who are either film workers, or are their families and friends. The decisions you make in the days ahead will determine if we can continue to work, pay taxes and raise families here.

We will all be voting in the November election, and you can be absolutely certain that we will be motivated to get others to do so as well. We love our communities, we love working here, and we do not want to see our livelihood pushed out of state. You have the power to help keep good, clean jobs here.

The fact is, North Carolina has built a clean, multi-billion dollar industry for over 30 years that employs thousands in life-long careers, and generates needed revenue for thousands of small businesses.

Film tourism brings unprecedented numbers of visitors and their vacation dollars here, making another dramatic and positive impact on our economy.

Georgia and South Carolina are most eager for you to do the wrong thing for North Carolina, and send our jobs and revenue their way. Just the rumor of losing our incentives has already sent several television series, their production dollars and jobs we need to other states.

We are asking you to do the right thing for our state, and extend the existing incentive as it is. We have a good thing going for all of North Carolina. Please, don’t destroy it. And you can count on the fact that we will remember, in large and active numbers, what you do to support the film incentive, or to destroy it.

Please see short video below from the NC Film Crew Members (Runtime 1:14).